Corporate report

Social Fund annual report 2018 to 2019

Published 4 November 2020

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 167(6) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992

November 2020

ISBN 978-1-5286-1123-7

Unnumbered act paper.

Preface

This is the thirty-first annual report to Parliament on the operation of the Social Fund for Great Britain, covering the 2018-19 reporting year. The Social Fund Annual Report is a routine performance report that is published as soon as possible after the end of the reporting year in March.

The Social Fund is a regulated scheme made up of Maternity Grants, Funeral Expenses Payments, Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments, and a discretionary scheme of Budgeting Loans.

These payments provide vital financial support for people in need by helping people and families on low income with certain one-off or occasional expenses as well as providing a source of affordable credit for the financially excluded.

During the 2018-19 reporting year, the Social Fund provided payments of just over £558.1 million. Winter Fuel Payments continued to offer vital support to older people, with an additional £2 billion provided to help them meet their heating costs.

The process of working to improve how these payments operate, alongside the rationalisation of the DWP estate which resulted in the movement of processing for Budgeting Loans and Funeral Expenses Payments, presented a number of challenges in the delivery of consistent performance in 2018-19.

However, the changes are expected to bring benefits to both the time to process as well as the accuracy of the decisions.


The Rt. Hon Thérèse Coffey Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

1. Introduction

1.1. This is the thirty-first annual report to Parliament on the operation of the Social Fund for Great Britain required to be laid by sections 167(5) and (6) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992[footnote 1].

1.2. The Social Fund scheme includes a regulated scheme made up of Maternity Grants and Funeral Expenses Payments, Cold Weather and Winter Fuel Payments, and a discretionary scheme comprised of Budgeting Loans.

Source of data for this report

1.3. The figures in this report[footnote 2], unless stated otherwise, are taken from the DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System, Social Fund White Paper Account and from scans of the Social Fund Computer System. Together these data sources record details of every individual application, subsequent payment decision and any outstanding repayment record. They also provide useful comparative data such as average awards, what needs are covered and how various client groups are using the fund. These comparisons are shown in the annexes to this report.

2. The Regulated Social Fund

Sure Start Maternity Grants

2.1. The Sure Start Maternity Grant (SSMG) is a payment of £500 to provide important help for families with the costs of a new baby (or babies in the event of a multiple birth) if there are no other children under 16 in the claimant’s family. The grant is available to recipients, and partners of recipients, of a qualifying benefit or tax credit. For claims in 2018-19 these were: Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income- based Jobseekers Allowance, Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit (which includes a disability or a severe disability element).

2.2. SSMG is also available for the additional children of subsequent multiple births. This recognises that help is needed with the costs for all but one of the additional children of a subsequent multiple birth. An example, would be where the birth of twins follows a previous single birth, a SSMG can now be paid to help with costs of the additional child.

2.3. From 6 April 2018 SSMG regulations were amended so that if a claimant is responsible under a formal or informal non-parental caring arrangement for a child over the age of 12 months these children will be disregarded. Following this change, claimants who have their own first child after taking on kinship care/non-parental caring responsibilities will be entitled to a SSMG.

2.4. On 18 October 2018 the time limit for making a claim to a SSMG was extended from three months to six months. This allowed claims to be made in exceptional cases where following birth the mother and/or the baby remains in hospital for an extended period in hospital.

2.5. On 10 December 2018 responsibility for SSMG for claimants living in Scotland was devolved to the Scottish Government who introduced the Best Start Grant. SSMG statistics report on Great Britain up to and including 9 December 2018 and England and Wales thereafter.

2.6. In 2018-19 over 49,000 SSMG awards were made worth £24.8 million. SSMG statistics are in Annexes 1 and 2.

Funeral Expenses Payments

2.7. The Funeral Expenses Payment (FEP) scheme provides help towards the cost of a funeral. Payments are made to the person responsible for funeral costs who is in receipt of (or whose partner is in receipt of) a qualifying benefit or tax credit. In 2018-19 the qualifying benefits and tax credits were the same as those listed above for SSMG, but with the addition of Housing Benefit. Any payments made by DWP towards funeral costs are recoverable from the estate of the deceased if there are sufficient funds.

2.8. In 2018-19, around 29,000 FEP awards were made worth £44.5 million.

2.9. The DWP’s Bereavement Service continues to take telephone applications for Funeral Expenses Payments as part of a wider service to people reporting a death to the DWP. Funeral Expenses Payment claims can also be made by post, or by using a claim form that can be downloaded from the GOV.UK website.

Cold Weather Payments

2.10. Cold Weather Payments provide help with additional costs of heating during periods of severely cold weather. Every residential postcode in Great Britain is linked to one of the weather stations used in the scheme. A payment is made to someone when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0ºC or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to their postcode.

2.11. In 2018-19 eligible recipients of a Cold Weather Payment are:

Benefit in payment Qualifying conditions for a Cold Weather Payment
Pension Credit Entitled to Cold Weather Payment (CWP).
Income Support (IS) Entitled to a CWP if they receive a disability premium, a severe disability premium, any one of the pensioner premiums, a child disability premium within IS or Child Tax Credit (CTC) or they have a child under 5 years.
Income based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA(IB)) Entitled to a CWP if they receive a disability premium, a severe disability premium, any one of the pensioner premiums, a child disability premium within JSA(IB) or CTC or they have child under 5 years.
Income-related Employment Support Allowance Entitled to a CWP if they receive the support component, the work-related activity component, a severe or enhanced disability premium, pensioner premium, or have a child who is disabled for whom they receive a disability premium within CTC or have a child under 5 years.
Universal Credit Entitled to a CWP under Universal Credit if they are not employed or self-employed; AND they, or their partner, receive a limited capability for work element (with or without a work- related activity element); or they receive the disabled child element within their assessment; or have a child under 5 years. Universal Credit recipients who are employed or self-employed will only be eligible for CWPs if they have a disabled child or eligible young person in the family.

2.12. A CWP award of £25 is made for each qualifying period of cold weather. In 2018-19 DWP made over 1,079,000 awards worth £27 million. The winter overall was particularly mild, however there was one single cold period that triggered widespread payments.

2.13. The annual review of the CWP scheme took place in the summer of 2018. The review included: an assessment of the continuing availability of the weather stations used to provide temperature data for the scheme; whether any new stations were more suitable or should be introduced in addition to those that were currently being used; and the impact on weather station linkages of changes to the postcode system by the Royal Mail, as well as the general suitability of the existing linkages.

2.14. The Department fed representations from Members of Parliament and the public into the review and considered the Met Office’s recommendations.

The review also:

  • established the continued availability of existing weather stations used to provide temperature data for the scheme
  • identified if any new stations are more suitable and should be introduced as either primary or secondary weather stations
  • considers the effects of any Royal Mail changes to the postcode system

2.15. For the start of the 2018-19 CWP scheme the Met Office recommend the replacement of two of the primary weather stations. The weather station at Filton, South Gloucestershire was replaced by the station at Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire and the weather station at Gravesend, Kent was replaced by the station at Shoeburyness, Essex.

2.16. The station located at Filton closed in October 2018 and was replaced in the service by an upgraded station at nearby Almondsbury approximately 3km north of Filton. All postcodes previously served by Filton were linked to Almondsbury.

2.17. The station located at Gravesend was closed at short notice. The most suitable alternative station to Gravesend (5.4ºC) with a similar winter temperature climatology is Shoeburyness (5.1ºC) at the mouth of the Thames estuary. All postcodes previously served by Gravesend linked to Shoeburyness.

2.18. The recommendations are made on the basis of the distribution of suitable weather stations, the winter mean temperatures in the postcode areas compared to the winter mean temperatures at these stations, and the population distribution.

2.19. Representations from Members of Parliament about the suitability of individual weather stations or their links with particular postcode districts were carefully considered and changes were recommended for some of the areas within the Kinloss and, Dingwall in North East Scotland population centres.

2.20. In their findings the Met Office recommended that the postcodes of IV7, IV15 and IV16 would be better represented by linking to the weather station at Loch Glascarnoch, Highland in North East Scotland which is more representative of the higher elevation and cooler postcodes.

2.21. CWP statistics are in Annexes 1 and 3.

Winter Fuel Payments

2.22. Winter Fuel Payments help older people to meet heating costs. They are tax free and do not affect entitlement to Social Security benefits.

2.23. In 2018-19 we made Winter Fuel Payments to around 11.57 million older people at an estimated cost of just under £2 billion. Official Statistics on the number of Winter Fuel Payments were published in September 2019.

2.24. Households with someone who had reached State Pension age for women received £200 and households with someone aged 80 or over received £300.

2.25. Most people who had reached the State Pension age for women in 2018-19 and who were normally living in Great Britain were eligible and qualified for the Winter Fuel Payment. You don’t receive a payment if during the qualifying week you:

  • are in prison
  • are in hospital receiving free treatment for more than 52 weeks
  • need permission to enter the UK and don’t qualify for help from DWP
  • have been living in a care home for the previous twelve weeks or more and receive Pension Credit, income-related Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance

2.26. The qualifying age for Winter Fuel Payments for men and women is increasing in line with the increase in women’s State Pension age.

2.27. Winter Fuel Payments are paid to people residing in the majority of the European Economic Area country or Switzerland as long as they have a genuine and sufficient link with the UK. The qualifying week for winter 2018-19 payments was the week beginning 17 September 2018.

2.28. Over 95 per cent of payments were made automatically before Christmas 2018 without the need to claim. However, newly eligible people needed to make a claim if they were not receiving a Social Security benefit (or receiving only Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction; Child Benefit; or Universal Credit as a member of a couple) during the qualifying week.

3. The Discretionary Social Fund

Budgeting Loans

3.1. Budgeting Loans are interest-free loans which are repayable from benefit awards. They are designed to help people, who have been in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least six months, with intermittent expenses that are considered difficult to budget for. The qualifying benefits are: Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income- based Jobseeker’s Allowance, and Pension Credit.

3.2. In 2018-19 nearly 1,155,000 awards were made to applicants in the form of Budgeting Loans, worth nearly £462 million.

3.3. There is a single, nationally managed loans budget. This budget is controlled and managed at a national level to ensure that all Budgeting Loan applicants in the same circumstances are treated in a similar way with no regional variations. Since April 2013, this budget has been funded solely from recoveries without any additional Annually Managed Expenditure allocations.

3.4. The Budgeting Loans scheme will remain in place for applicants in receipt of existing income related benefits until they migrate to Universal Credit (at which point they may be eligible for a Budgeting Advance. A Budgeting Advance is not an award from the Social Fund).

3.5. Claimants that migrate from Universal Credit to Pension Credit will once again qualify for a Budgeting Loan.

3.6. Budgeting Loan statistics are in Annexes 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

4. General administration

Reviews

4.1. A regulated Social Fund applicant who is dissatisfied with the initial decision on their application may also apply to have the decision reviewed under a mandatory reconsideration within 14 days of the original decision.

4.2. Applicants who remained dissatisfied are able to appeal the decision to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). The data for 2018-19 is reported in Annex 9.

4.3. A discretionary Social Fund applicant who is dissatisfied with the initial decision on their application may apply to have the decision reviewed under a mandatory reconsideration within 14 days of the original decision. Consideration is given to whether the law (including the Secretary of State’s Directions and Guidance) has been applied correctly, and the case handled fairly and reasonably.

4.4. A reviewing officer within Jobcentre Plus carries out the first review and the outcome is notified to the applicant. In 2018-19, Jobcentre Plus dealt with nearly 1,700 applications for first review.

4.5. In 2018-19 applicants for Budgeting Loans who remained dissatisfied were able to ask for a further review by the office of the Independent Case Examiner (ICE). In 2018-19 ICE reviewed 39 reviewing officer decisions.

4.6. The introduction of the digital claims process for Budgeting Loans has resulted in a number of challenges in the past year. Applications for Budgeting Loans through the digital process have continued at a higher level throughout 2018/19.

4.7. Budgeting loan refusals have decreased from 17.8% in 2017-18 to 13.8% in 2018-19. Changes have been made to the on-line application process that now more clearly identify Universal Credit customers who are not entitled to Budgeting Loans.

Performance management and improvement

4.8. During 2018-19 a number of internal management tools were used to measure the quality of Social Fund decision making for SSMG, and Budgeting Loans. The focus of the check has continued to concentrate on complex decision making.

4.9. Performance was affected during 2018/19 by plans for the closure and relocation of the processing of Funeral Expenses Payments as well as the taking on of additional telephony responsibilities. These changes entailed significant disruption as well as extensive training commitments. In the longer term they are expected to bring benefits to both the time to process as well as the accuracy of the decisions.

4.10. Budgeting Loan and SSMG accuracy has remained high, 90% for Budgeting Loans and 96.2% for SSMG. Due to the migration of FEP processing monitoring was focussed on newly trained staff to ensure accuracy going forward.

Clearance standards

4.11. Clearance standards for the operational delivery sites for Social Fund, and overall national performance, are monitored against individual clearance standards (see table). The table shows clearance against: the Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) standard (column 3).

4.12. The Budgeting Loan and Sure Start Maternity Grant targets remained at the same level that were introduced during the 2017-18 reporting year. Funeral Expenses Payment performance during 2018-19 faced operational challenges due to the migration of claim processing as well as well as the extensive training commitments of new staff. Because of past performance challenges there was a focus on ensuring training was to a high standard to ensure the long term goals of delivering improved performance and accuracy.

Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) (working days) (2) AACT Standard (3) Achieved in 2018-19 (4) % Cleared within AACT Standard
Budgeting Loans 8 days 10.1 50.1
Funeral Expenses Payments 13 days 23.5 44.7
Sure Start Maternity Grants 10 days 8.0 92.2

Data sourced from DWP Management Information System Programme (MISP) and DWP Social Fund Computer System (SFCS).

Management Information System Programme (MISP) and Social Fund Computer System (SFCS) are Departmental performance management, data capture and reporting tools. In accordance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice, this type of internal management information does not form part of the official statistics outputs that are released by the Department.

5. Financial management

Background

5.1. Payments from the regulated Social Fund are based on eligibility. Regulations prescribe the circumstances and amounts that are payable.

5.2. National cash-limited budgets are allocated for Budgeting Loans, Funeral Expenses Payments and Sure Start Maternity Grants.

The 2018-19 Discretionary Social Fund budget recoveries

5.3. £542.6 million (£511.4. million from Budgeting Loans, £31.2 million from Crisis Loans) was recovered through the repayment of loans.

The 2018-19 Regulated Social Fund budget recoveries

5.4. £0.1 million of Funeral Expenses Payments was recovered from estates.

6. Summary of financial performance

6.1. In 2018-19 the Social Fund provided payments of just over £558.1 million, with an additional amount, of approximately £2 billion for Winter Fuel Payments paid in Great Britain to around 12 million households.

6.2. Compared to 2017-18 the 2018-19 figures show:

  • applications received for Sure Start Maternity Grant have decreased 3.9% from 100,400 in 2017-18 to 96,400 in 2018-19
  • the proportion of Sure Start Maternity Grant decisions resulting in an initial award increased slightly in 2018-19 to 50.9% from 50.3% the previous year

6.3. Gross expenditure on Sure Start Maternity Grant for 2018-19 was £24.8 million.

The 2018-19 Budgeting Loans budget

6.4. In April 2018, a single national Budgeting Loans budget of £419.5 million was allocated, composed entirely of loan recoveries. Budgeting Loan payments were able to increase beyond the initial budget due to the availability of increased loan recoveries achieved during the year to finance them.

6.5. Loan recoveries during the year were £542.6 million against a forecast recovery of £510 million at the beginning of 2018-19. Recoveries provided 100% of the funds needed to meet gross expenditure.

Index to annexes

General

1. National Social Fund Summary Statistics

The Regulated Social Fund

2. Sure Start Maternity Grants and Funeral Expenses Payments: awards by claimant group and by qualifying benefit or tax credits

3. Cold Weather Payment Statistics by Met Office Weather Station

The Discretionary Social Fund

4. Discretionary Loans Statistics by Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget Area 2018-19

5. Discretionary Loans gross expenditure by Claimant Group 2018-19

6. Budgeting Loans: initial awards by Family Composition 2019-19 and comparison with 2017-18

7. Budgeting Loans: reasons for initial refusal by Applicant Group 2018-19

8. Summary of Budgeting Loan review applications

Social Fund Appeals

9. Summary of Social Fund appeals

Client Groups and Applicant Groups

10. Client Groups and Applicant or Claimant Group definitions

Annex 1: National Social Fund Summary Statistics

Regulated Social Fund

Type SSMG CWP FEP
Applications received (000) 96.4 n/a 45.9
Initial decisions (000) 96.4 n/a 43.5
Awards (000) 49.1 1,079.1 29.1
Awards as % of initial decisions 50.9 n/a 66.8
Initial refusals (000) 53.0 n/a 14.2
Gross expenditure £m 24.8 27.0 44.5
Recoveries £m n/a n/a 0.1
Net expenditure £m 24.8 27.0 44.3
Average award £ 508 25 1,517

Discretionary Social Fund

Type BL CL
Applications received (000) 1,421.5 n/a
Initial decisions (000) 1,421.6 n/a
Awards (000) 1,155.0 n/a
Awards as % of initial decisions 81.2 n/a
Initial refusals (000) 195.6 n/a
Gross expenditure £m 461.8 n/a
Recoveries £m 511.4 31.2
Net expenditure £m -49.6 -31.2
Average award £ 395 n/a

SSMG devolved to Scotland on 10 December 2018. From this date SSMG is only awarded in England and Wales. Therefore, the figures report on Great Britain up to 10 December 2018, and on England and Wales from that date onwards.

SSMG, FEP, BL and CL figures for gross expenditure, recoveries and net expenditure are taken from Social Fund Account 2018-19. Remaining SSMG, FEP and BL data sourced from the DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

CWP figures for gross and net expenditure are taken from Social Fund Account 2018-19. The figure for CWP awards is derived from the gross expenditure figure. This figure reflects the number of CWPs awards paid during the 2018-19 financial year, rather than the 2018-19 Cold Weather season, which can differ due to the timing of payments.

The CWP eligible caseload is also subject to change over the duration of the Cold Weather season. As a result, this figure is different to previously published estimates of awards for 2018-19.

Key

SSMG = Sure Start Maternity Grant, FEP = Funeral Expenses Payment, BL = Budgeting Loan, CWP = Cold Weather Payment, CL = Crisis Loan

Notes

1. The average Sure Start Maternity Grant award is higher than the award value of £500 to reflect the additional award made for multiple births.

2. There is no requirement to claim Cold Weather Payments.

3. The Budgeting Loan award figures do not include awards made after review, reconsideration or appeal. However, the gross expenditure figure does include such awards.

4. For Sure Start Maternity Grants and Funeral Expense Payments, the average award value is calculated by dividing gross expenditure by the number of awards (including awards made on review, reconsideration or appeal).

5. The average Cold Weather Payment award is the amount paid to each qualifying individual every time an award is made. Qualifying individuals may receive more than one payment during each CWP season.

6. For Budgeting Loans, the average award value is calculated by dividing initial expenditure (which excludes the value of awards made on review, reconsideration or appeal) by the number of initial awards. The initial expenditure figure is not shown.

7. Differences between applications received, initial decisions, awards and initial refusals are due to applications being withdrawn; applicants rejecting or not responding to loan offers; and decisions outstanding at the time of the count.

8. The net expenditure for Budgeting Loans is negative as total recoveries have exceeded gross expenditure in 2018-19.

9. The Crisis Loan scheme ended in March 2013; the recoveries shown are in respect of outstanding loans made prior to this date.

10. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Annex 2a: Sure Start Maternity Grants and Funeral Expenses Payment – Awards by Claimant Group

Sure Start Maternity Grants

Claimant group Awards (000) % of Total Awards
Pensioners ~ ~
Unemployed 1.0 2.0
Disabled 5.6 11.5
Lone parents 1.2 2.5
Employed 7.7 15.7
Others 33.5 68.4
Total 49.1 100.0

Funeral Expenses Payment

Claimant group Awards (000) % of Total Awards
Pensioners 8.2 28.4
Unemployed 2.1 7.3
Disabled 2.0 6.8
Lone parents 0.5 1.7
Employed ~ ~
Others 16.2 55.8
Total 29.1 100.0

SSMG devolved to Scotland on 10 December 2018. From this date SSMG is only awarded in England and Wales. Therefore, the figures report on Great Britain up to 10 December 2018, and on England and Wales from that date onwards.

Notes

1. Claimant group definitions are given in Annex 10.

2. These tables include awards made after review, reconsideration or appeal.

3. If an award is made to a claimant who belongs to more than one claimant group, then the award is recorded under the claimant group which appears first in the table.

4. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

5. ~ represents volumes less than 50 or percentages less than 0.5%.

6. Awards are rounded to the nearest 100, percentages to the nearest 0.1%.

Annex 2b: Sure Start Maternity Grants and Funeral Expenses Payment – Awards by Qualifying Benefit

Sure Start Maternity Grant

Qualifying benefit Awards (000) % of Total Awards
Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (income- related), Jobseekers Allowance (income-based), Universal Credit and Pension Credit 41.4 84.3
Child Tax Credit/Working Tax Credit (which includes a disability or a severe disability element) 7.7 15.7
Housing Benefit ~ ~
Unknown ~ ~
Total 49.1 100.0

Funeral Expenses Payment

Qualifying benefit Awards (000) % of Total Awards
Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (income- related), Jobseekers Allowance (income-based), Universal Credit and Pension Credit 22.9 78.8
Child Tax Credit/Working Tax Credit (which includes a disability or a severe disability element) 2.8 9.5
Housing Benefit 3.2 10.9
Unknown 0.2 0.8
Total 29.1 100.0

SSMG devolved to Scotland on 10 December 2018. From this date SSMG is only awarded in England and Wales. Therefore, the figures report on Great Britain up to 10 December 2018, and on England and Wales from that date onwards.

Notes

1. Claimant group definitions are in Annex 10.

2. These tables include awards made after reconsideration or appeal.

3. If an award is made to a claimant who receives more than one qualifying benefit or tax credit, then the award is recorded under the qualifying benefit or tax credit which appears first in the table above.

4. Figures and percentages may not sum due to rounding.

5. ~ represents less than 50 or percentages less than 0.5%.

6. Awards are rounded to the nearest 100, percentages to the nearest 0.1%.

7. Awards for which a qualifying benefit is not recorded on the DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System are categorised as “Unknown”.

Annex 3: Cold Weather Payment Information by Weather Station

Weather station Parliamentary constituencies covered by each weather station Number eligible for payment Triggers Number eligible for payment in receipt of Pension Credit
Aberporth Carmarthen East and Dinefwr; Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire; Ceredigion; Preseli Pembrokeshire 5,000 0 2,000
Aboyne Aberdeen South; Angus; Banff and Buchan; Gordon; Moray; West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 7,000 2 3,000
Achnagart Ross, Skye and Lochaber 1,000 1 1,000
Albemarle Berwick-upon-Tweed; Bishop Auckland; Blaydon; Blyth Valley; City of Durham; Easington; Gateshead; Hexham; Houghton and Sunderland South; Jarrow; Newcastle upon Tyne Central; Newcastle upon Tyne East; Newcastle upon Tyne North; North Durham; North Tyneside; North West Durham; Sedgefield; South Shields; Stockton North; Stockton South; Sunderland Central; Tynemouth; Washington and Sunderland West 129,000 2 55,000
Almondsbury Bristol East; Bristol North West; Bristol South; Bristol West; Filton and Bradley Stoke; Forest of Dean; Kingswood; Monmouth; Newport East; North East Somerset; North Somerset; Stroud; The Cotswolds; Thornbury and Yate; Wells; Weston-Super-Mare 55,000 0 21,000
Andrewsfield Basildon and Billericay; Braintree; Brentwood and Ongar; Broxbourne; Cambridge; Chelmsford; Epping Forest; Harlow; Hertford and Stortford; Hornchurch and Upminster; Maldon; North East Bedfordshire; North East Hertfordshire; Romford; Saffron Walden; South Basildon and East Thurrock; South Cambridgeshire; South East Cambridgeshire; Witham 40,000 0 17,000
Auchincruive Argyll and Bute; Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock; Central Ayrshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Kilmarnock and Loudoun; North Ayrshire and Arran 33,000 0 14,000
Aultbea Ross, Skye and Lochaber < 500 0 < 500
Aviemore Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; Moray 1,000 2 < 500
Bainbridge Bishop Auckland; North West Durham; Pendle; Penrith and The Border; Ribble Valley; Richmond (Yorks); Skipton and Ripon 4,000 2 2,000
Bedford Banbury; Bedford; Buckingham; Corby; Daventry; Harborough; Hitchin and Harpenden; Huntingdon; Kenilworth and Southam; Kettering; Mid Bedfordshire; Milton Keynes North; Milton Keynes South; North East Bedfordshire; North East Hertfordshire; Northampton North; Northampton South; South Cambridgeshire; South Northamptonshire; Stevenage; Wellingborough 62,000 0 25,000
Bingley Batley and Spen; Bradford East; Bradford South; Bradford West; Burnley; Calder Valley; Colne Valley; Dewsbury; Halifax; Huddersfield; Hyndburn; Keighley; Leeds North East; Leeds North West; Morley and Outwood; Pendle; Penistone and Stocksbridge; Pudsey; Ribble Valley; Rochdale; Rossendale and Darwen; Shipley; Skipton and Ripon 78,000 1 31,000
Bishopton Airdrie and Shotts; Argyll and Bute; Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill; Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East; East Dunbartonshire; East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow; East Renfrewshire; Glasgow Central; Glasgow East; Glasgow North; Glasgow North East; Glasgow North West; Glasgow South; Glasgow South West; Inverclyde; Kilmarnock and Loudoun; Lanark and Hamilton East; Motherwell and Wishaw; North Ayrshire and Arran; Paisley and Renfrewshire North; Paisley and Renfrewshire South; Rutherglen and Hamilton West; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire 137,000 1 51,000
Boscombe Down Basingstoke; Devizes; Meon Valley; New Forest East; New Forest West; North Dorset; North West Hampshire; Romsey and Southampton North; Salisbury; South West Wiltshire; Winchester 12,000 0 6,000
Braemar Angus; Perth and North Perthshire; West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 1,000 3 1,000
Brize Norton Banbury; Buckingham; Henley; Newbury; Oxford East; Oxford West and Abingdon; South Northamptonshire; The Cotswolds; Wantage; Witney 16,000 0 7,000
Capel Curig Aberconwy; Clwyd West; Dwyfor Meirionnydd 1,000 0 < 500
Cardinham (Bodmin) North Cornwall; South East Cornwall; St Austell and Newquay; Torridge and West Devon 13,000 0 6,000
Carlisle Carlisle; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale; Hexham; Penrith and The Border; Workington 9,000 0 4,000
Cassley Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross < 500 1 < 500
Charlwood Arundel and South Downs; Ashford; Bexhill and Battle; Chatham and Aylesford; Chichester; Crawley; Dartford; East Surrey; Faversham and Mid Kent; Gravesham; Guildford; Horsham; Lewes; Maidstone and The Weald; Mid Sussex; Mole Valley; Orpington; Reigate; Sevenoaks; South West Surrey; Tonbridge and Malling; Tunbridge Wells; Wealden 43,000 0 18,000
Charterhall Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; Berwick-upon-Tweed; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale; East Lothian 5,000 1 2,000
Chivenor North Cornwall; North Devon; Torridge and West Devon 8,000 0 4,000
Coleshill Aldridge-Brownhills; Birmingham, Edgbaston; Birmingham, Erdington; Birmingham, Hall Green; Birmingham, Hodge Hill; Birmingham, Ladywood; Birmingham, Northfield; Birmingham, Perry Barr; Birmingham, Selly Oak; Birmingham, Yardley; Bosworth; Bromsgrove; Cannock Chase; Coventry North East; Coventry North West; Coventry South; Daventry; Dudley North; Dudley South; Halesowen and Rowley Regis; Kenilworth and Southam; Lichfield; Ludlow; Meriden; Mid Worcestershire; North Warwickshire; North West Leicestershire; Nuneaton; Redditch; Rugby; Solihull; South Leicestershire; South Staffordshire; Stafford; Stourbridge; Stratford-on-Avon; Sutton Coldfield; Tamworth; The Wrekin; Walsall North; Walsall South; Warley; Warwick and Leamington; West Bromwich East; West Bromwich West; West Worcestershire; Wolverhampton North East; Wolverhampton South East; Wolverhampton South West; Wyre Forest 279,000 0 117,000
Crosby Birkenhead; Blackpool North and Cleveleys; Blackpool South; Bootle; Chorley; City of Chester; Ellesmere Port and Neston; Fylde; Garston and Halewood; Halton; Knowsley; Lancaster and Fleetwood; Liverpool, Riverside; Liverpool, Walton; Liverpool, Wavertree; Liverpool, West Derby; Preston; Ribble Valley; Sefton Central; South Ribble; Southport; St Helens North; St Helens South and Whiston; Wallasey; West Lancashire; Wirral South; Wirral West; Wyre and Preston North 176,000 0 70,000
Culdrose Camborne and Redruth; North Cornwall; St Austell and Newquay; St Ives; Truro and Falmouth 21,000 0 10,000
Dunkeswell Aerodrome Central Devon; East Devon; Taunton Deane; Tiverton and Honiton; West Dorset; Yeovil 5,000 0 3,000
Dunstaffnage Argyll and Bute; Ross, Skye and Lochaber 1,000 0 1,000
Dyce Aberdeen North; Aberdeen South; Banff and Buchan; Gordon; West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 17,000 1 6,000
Edinburgh Gogarbank Airdrie and Shotts; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale; Dunfermline and West Fife; East Lothian; Edinburgh East; Edinburgh North and Leith; Edinburgh South; Edinburgh South West; Edinburgh West; Falkirk; Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath; Lanark and Hamilton East; Linlithgow and East Falkirk; Livingston; Midlothian; Ochil and South Perthshire; Stirling 72,000 1 25,000
Eskdalemuir Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; Dumfries and Galloway; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale; Penrith and The Border 4,000 2 2,000
Exeter Airport Central Devon; East Devon; Exeter; Newton Abbot; Tiverton and Honiton; Torbay; Totnes 32,000 0 15,000
Fylingdales Richmond (Yorks); Scarborough and Whitby; Thirsk and Malton 3,000 2 2,000
Hawarden Airport Alyn and Deeside; City of Chester; Clwyd South; Clwyd West; Delyn; Eddisbury; Ellesmere Port and Neston; North Shropshire; Vale of Clwyd; Wrexham 24,000 0 11,000
Heathrow Barking; Battersea; Beaconsfield; Beckenham; Bermondsey and Old Southwark; Bethnal Green and Bow; Brent Central; Brent North; Brentford and Isleworth; Brentwood and Ongar; Bromley and Chislehurst; Broxbourne; Camberwell and Peckham; Carshalton and Wallington; Chelsea and Fulham; Chingford and Woodford Green; Chipping Barnet; Cities of London and Westminster; Croydon Central; Croydon North; Croydon South; Dulwich and West Norwood; Ealing Central and Acton; Ealing North; Ealing, Southall; East Ham; East Surrey; Edmonton; Eltham; Enfield North; Enfield, Southgate; Epping Forest; Epsom and Ewell; Erith and Thamesmead; Esher and Walton; Feltham and Heston; Finchley and Golders Green; Greenwich and Woolwich; Hackney North and Stoke Newington; Hackney South and Shoreditch; Hammersmith; Hampstead and Kilburn; Harlow; Harrow East; Harrow West; Hayes and Harlington; Hendon; Hertford and Stortford; Hertsmere; Holborn and St Pancras; Hornsey and Wood Green; Ilford North; Ilford South; Islington North; Islington South and Finsbury; Kensington; Kingston and Surbiton; Lewisham East; Lewisham West and Penge; Lewisham, Deptford; Leyton and Wanstead; Mitcham and Morden; Mole Valley; Old Bexley and Sidcup; Orpington; Poplar and Limehouse; Putney; Reigate; Richmond Park; Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner; Runnymede and Weybridge; Slough; South West Hertfordshire; Spelthorne; St Albans; Streatham; Sutton and Cheam; Tooting; Tottenham; Twickenham; Uxbridge and South Ruislip; Vauxhall; Walthamstow; Watford; West Ham; Westminster North; Wimbledon; Windsor; Woking 479,000 0 199,000
Hereford- Credenhill Brecon and Radnorshire; Cheltenham; Forest of Dean; Gloucester; Hereford and South Herefordshire; Ludlow; Mid Worcestershire; Monmouth; North Herefordshire; Redditch; Stratford-on-Avon; Stroud; Tewkesbury; The Cotswolds; West Worcestershire; Worcester; Wyre Forest 51,000 0 23,000
Herstmonceux West End Bexhill and Battle; Brighton, Kemptown; Eastbourne; Folkestone and Hythe; Hastings and Rye; Lewes; Mid Sussex; Wealden 26,000 0 11,000
High Wycombe Aylesbury; Banbury; Beaconsfield; Buckingham; Chesham and Amersham; Henley; Maidenhead; South West Hertfordshire; Wycombe 15,000 0 6,000
Hurn Bournemouth East; Bournemouth West; Christchurch; Mid Dorset and North Poole; New Forest East; New Forest West; North Dorset; Poole; Salisbury; South Dorset; West Dorset 34,000 0 17,000
Isle of Portland South Dorset; West Dorset 5,000 0 2,000
Keele Burton; Congleton; Crewe and Nantwich; Derbyshire Dales; Eddisbury; Lichfield; Macclesfield; Newcastle-under-Lyme; North Shropshire; South Staffordshire; Stafford; Staffordshire Moorlands; Stoke-on-Trent Central; Stoke-on- Trent North; Stoke-on-Trent South; Stone; The Wrekin 45,000 1 18,000
Kinloss Banff and Buchan; Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; Moray; Ross, Skye and Lochaber 12,000 0 5,000
Kirkwall Orkney and Shetland 1,000 0 1,000
Lake Vyrnwy Clwyd South; Clwyd West; Dwyfor Meirionnydd; Ludlow; Montgomeryshire; North Shropshire; Shrewsbury and Atcham 5,000 1 2,000
Langdon Bay Ashford; Canterbury; Dover; Faversham and Mid Kent; Folkestone and Hythe; Gillingham and Rainham; North Thanet; Sittingbourne and Sheppey; South Thanet 48,000 0 21,000
Leconfield Beverley and Holderness; Brigg and Goole; Doncaster North; East Yorkshire; Haltemprice and Howden; Kingston upon Hull East; Kingston upon Hull North; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle; Scarborough and Whitby; Selby and Ainsty; Thirsk and Malton 50,000 0 21,000
Leek Burton; Derbyshire Dales; Hazel Grove; High Peak; Macclesfield; North East Derbyshire; Sheffield, Hallam; Staffordshire Moorlands; Stalybridge and Hyde; Stoke-on- Trent Central; Stoke-on-Trent North; Stone 10,000 1 5,000
Lerwick Orkney and Shetland 1,000 0 < 500
Leuchars Angus; Dundee East; Dundee West; Glenrothes; Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath; North East Fife; Ochil and South Perthshire; Perth and North Perthshire; West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 32,000 1 12,000
Linton on Ouse Beverley and Holderness; Bishop Auckland; Bradford East; Darlington; East Yorkshire; Elmet and Rothwell; Haltemprice and Howden; Harrogate and Knaresborough; Leeds Central; Leeds East; Leeds North East; Leeds North West; Leeds West; Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland; Morley and Outwood; Pudsey; Richmond (Yorks); Sedgefield; Selby and Ainsty; Shipley; Skipton and Ripon; Stockton North; Stockton South; Thirsk and Malton; York Central; York Outer 78,000 1 31,000
Liscombe Bridgwater and West Somerset; Central Devon; North Devon; Tiverton and Honiton 4,000 0 2,000
Little Rissington Banbury; Cheltenham; Kenilworth and Southam; Mid Worcestershire; South Northamptonshire; Stratford-on- Avon; Tewkesbury; The Cotswolds; West Worcestershire; Witney 6,000 1 3,000
Llysdinam Brecon and Radnorshire; Carmarthen East and Dinefwr; Ludlow; Montgomeryshire; North Herefordshire 5,000 0 2,000
Loch Glascarnoch Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; Ross, Skye and Lochaber 1,000 3 < 500
Loftus Easington; Hartlepool; Middlesbrough; Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland; Redcar; Richmond (Yorks); Scarborough and Whitby; Sedgefield; Stockton North; Stockton South 53,000 0 20,000
Machrihanish Argyll and Bute; North Ayrshire and Arran 1,000 0 1,000
Marham Boston and Skegness; Broadland; Bury St Edmunds; Mid Norfolk; North East Cambridgeshire; North West Norfolk; Peterborough; South East Cambridgeshire; South Holland and The Deepings; South West Norfolk; West Suffolk 23,000 0 11,000
Mona Aberconwy; Arfon; Dwyfor Meirionnydd; Ynys Mon 12,000 0 6,000
Morpeth, Cockle Park Berwick-upon-Tweed; Blyth Valley; Hexham; Wansbeck 13,000 0 5,000
North Wyke Central Devon; Newton Abbot; North Cornwall; North Devon; South West Devon; Torridge and West Devon; Totnes 8,000 0 4,000
Nottingham Watnall Amber Valley; Ashfield; Bassetlaw; Bolsover; Bosworth; Broxtowe; Burton; Charnwood; Corby; Daventry; Derby North; Derby South; Derbyshire Dales; Erewash; Gedling; Grantham and Stamford; Harborough; Kettering; Leicester East; Leicester South; Leicester West; Lichfield; Loughborough; Mansfield; Mid Derbyshire; Newark; North East Derbyshire; North West Leicestershire; Nottingham East; Nottingham North; Nottingham South; Nuneaton; Rugby; Rushcliffe; Rutland and Melton; Sherwood; Sleaford and North Hykeham; South Derbyshire; South Leicestershire; Staffordshire Moorlands 166,000 0 66,000
Pembrey Sands Aberavon; Carmarthen East and Dinefwr; Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire; Gower; Llanelli; Neath; Preseli Pembrokeshire; Swansea East; Swansea West 42,000 0 17,000
Plymouth Plymouth, Moor View; Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport; South East Cornwall; South West Devon; Torridge and West Devon; Totnes 22,000 0 9,000
Redesdale Berwick-upon-Tweed; Hexham; North West Durham; Penrith and The Border 4,000 2 2,000
Rhyl Aberconwy; Clwyd West; Delyn; Vale of Clwyd 16,000 0 7,000
Rochdale Ashton-under-Lyne; Blackley and Broughton; Bolton North East; Bolton South East; Bolton West; Bury North; Bury South; Calder Valley; Chorley; Denton and Reddish; Heywood and Middleton; Oldham East and Saddleworth; Oldham West and Royton; Rochdale; Rossendale and Darwen; Stalybridge and Hyde 73,000 1 28,000
Rostherne Altrincham and Sale West; Ashton-under-Lyne; Blackley and Broughton; Bolton South East; Bolton West; Bury South; Cheadle; Chorley; Congleton; Crewe and Nantwich; Denton and Reddish; Eddisbury; Ellesmere Port and Neston; Garston and Halewood; Halton; Hazel Grove; High Peak; Knowsley; Leigh; Macclesfield; Makerfield; Manchester Central; Manchester, Gorton; Manchester, Withington; Oldham West and Royton; Salford and Eccles; South Ribble; St Helens North; St Helens South and Whiston; Staffordshire Moorlands; Stalybridge and Hyde; Stockport; Stretford and Urmston; Tatton; Warrington North; Warrington South; Weaver Vale; West Lancashire; Wigan; Worsley and Eccles South; Wythenshawe and Sale East 192,000 0 75,000
Rothamsted Broxbourne; Buckingham; Chesham and Amersham; Chipping Barnet; Enfield North; Harrow East; Hemel Hempstead; Hertford and Stortford; Hertsmere; Hitchin and Harpenden; Luton North; Luton South; Mid Bedfordshire; North East Hertfordshire; Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner; South West Bedfordshire; South West Hertfordshire; St Albans; Stevenage; Watford; Welwyn Hatfield 52,000 0 21,000
St. Athan Aberavon; Brecon and Radnorshire; Bridgend; Caerphilly; Cardiff Central; Cardiff North; Cardiff South and Penarth; Cardiff West; Cynon Valley; Islwyn; Monmouth; Neath; Newport East; Newport West; Ogmore; Pontypridd; Vale of Glamorgan 70,000 0 26,000
St. Bees Head Copeland; Workington 8,000 0 3,000
Salsburgh Airdrie and Shotts; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill; Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale; East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow; Falkirk; Lanark and Hamilton East; Linlithgow and East Falkirk; Livingston; Midlothian; Motherwell and Wishaw; Rutherglen and Hamilton West 32,000 2 13,000
Scilly St. Marys St Ives < 100 0 < 100
Shap Copeland; Penrith and The Border; Richmond (Yorks); Westmorland and Lonsdale; Workington 4,000 1 2,000
Shawbury Clwyd South; Eddisbury; Ludlow; Montgomeryshire; North Shropshire; Shrewsbury and Atcham; Stafford; Stone; Telford; The Wrekin 24,000 0 10,000
Sheffield Barnsley Central; Barnsley East; Bassetlaw; Batley and Spen; Bolsover; Brigg and Goole; Calder Valley; Chesterfield; Colne Valley; Derbyshire Dales; Dewsbury; Don Valley; Doncaster Central; Doncaster North; Elmet and Rothwell; Hemsworth; Huddersfield; Morley and Outwood; Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford; North East Derbyshire; Penistone and Stocksbridge; Rother Valley; Rotherham; Selby and Ainsty; Sheffield Central; Sheffield South East; Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough; Sheffield, Hallam; Sheffield, Heeley; Wakefield; Wentworth and Dearne 168,000 0 65,000
Shoeburyness Barking; Basildon and Billericay; Beckenham; Bexleyheath and Crayford; Brentwood and Ongar; Bromley and Chislehurst; Castle Point; Chatham and Aylesford; Dagenham and Rainham; Dartford; Eltham; Erith and Thamesmead; Faversham and Mid Kent; Gillingham and Rainham; Gravesham; Hornchurch and Upminster; Ilford North; Ilford South; Maldon; Old Bexley and Sidcup; Orpington; Rayleigh and Wickford; Rochester and Strood; Rochford and Southend East; Romford; Sevenoaks; Sittingbourne and Sheppey; South Basildon and East Thurrock; Southend West; Thurrock 103,000 0 42,000
South Farnborough Aldershot; Arundel and South Downs; Basingstoke; Beaconsfield; Bracknell; Chichester; East Hampshire; Guildford; Henley; Maidenhead; Meon Valley; Mole Valley; Newbury; North East Hampshire; North West Hampshire; Reading East; Reading West; Runnymede and Weybridge; Slough; South West Surrey; Surrey Heath; Wantage; Winchester; Windsor; Woking; Wokingham 59,000 1 26,000
Stonyhurst Blackburn; Chorley; Hyndburn; Lancaster and Fleetwood; Morecambe and Lunesdale; Pendle; Ribble Valley; Rossendale and Darwen; Skipton and Ripon; Westmorland and Lonsdale 23,000 0 9,000
Stornoway Na h-Eileanan an Iar 2,000 0 1,000
Strathallan Angus; Argyll and Bute; Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East; Dunfermline and West Fife; Glenrothes; Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath; North East Fife; Ochil and South Perthshire; Perth and North Perthshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire 13,000 2 5,000
Thorney Island Arundel and South Downs; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton; Brighton, Kemptown; Brighton, Pavilion; Chichester; East Hampshire; East Worthing and Shoreham; Eastleigh; Fareham; Gosport; Havant; Hove; Isle of Wight; Lewes; Meon Valley; New Forest East; New Forest West; Portsmouth North; Portsmouth South; Romsey and Southampton North; Salisbury; Southampton, Itchen; Southampton, Test; Winchester; Worthing West 110,000 0 47,000
Threave Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock; Dumfries and Galloway; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 6,000 0 3,000
Tibenham Broadland; Great Yarmouth; Mid Norfolk; North Norfolk; North West Norfolk; Norwich North; Norwich South; South Norfolk; South West Norfolk; Suffolk Coastal; Waveney 47,000 0 21,000
Tiree Argyll and Bute; Ross, Skye and Lochaber < 100 0 < 100
Trawsgoed Brecon and Radnorshire; Ceredigion; Dwyfor Meirionnydd; Montgomeryshire 3,000 0 1,000
Tredegar Blaenau Gwent; Brecon and Radnorshire; Caerphilly; Cardiff North; Carmarthen East and Dinefwr; Cynon Valley; Islwyn; Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney; Monmouth; Neath; Ogmore; Pontypridd; Rhondda; Torfaen 60,000 1 22,000
Tulloch Bridge Argyll and Bute; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; Perth and North Perthshire; Ross, Skye and Lochaber; Stirling 2,000 2 1,000
Waddington Bassetlaw; Boston and Skegness; Brigg and Goole; Cleethorpes; Don Valley; Gainsborough; Grantham and Stamford; Great Grimsby; Lincoln; Louth and Horncastle; Newark; Scunthorpe; Sleaford and North Hykeham; South Holland and The Deepings 63,000 0 28,000
Walney Island Barrow and Furness; Copeland; Lancaster and Fleetwood; Morecambe and Lunesdale; Westmorland and Lonsdale 15,000 0 6,000
Wattisham Braintree; Bury St Edmunds; Central Suffolk and North Ipswich; Clacton; Colchester; Harwich and North Essex; Ipswich; South East Cambridgeshire; South Norfolk; South Suffolk; South West Norfolk; Suffolk Coastal; Waveney; West Suffolk; Witham 50,000 0 23,000
Westonbirt Bath; Chippenham; Devizes; Kingswood; Newbury; North East Somerset; North Swindon; North Wiltshire; Somerton and Frome; South Swindon; South West Wiltshire; Stroud; The Cotswolds; Thornbury and Yate; Wantage; Wells; Witney 33,000 0 15,000
Wick Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 2,000 0 1,000
Wittering Corby; Grantham and Stamford; Huntingdon; Kettering; North East Bedfordshire; North East Cambridgeshire; North West Cambridgeshire; Peterborough; Rutland and Melton; South Cambridgeshire; South East Cambridgeshire; South Holland and The Deepings 28,000 0 11,000
Yeovilton Bridgwater and West Somerset; North Dorset; Somerton and Frome; Taunton Deane; Tiverton and Honiton; Wells; West Dorset; Weston-Super-Mare; Yeovil 25,000 0 12,000
Great Britain - 3,830,000 43 1,580,000

Notes

1. Cold Weather Payments are paid automatically – eligible recipients do not make a claim to receive payment.

2. A Cold Weather Payment is made to an eligible customer when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecasted to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the customer’s postcode (when the temperature criterion is met, the weather station is said to trigger).

3. Cold Weather Payments are made to benefit units. A benefit unit can be a single person or a couple and can include children.

4. Cold Weather Payment figures are taken from Departmental records.

5. The number of eligible benefit units linked to each weather station is an estimate.

6. The number of eligible benefit units are rounded to the nearest 100.

7. The weather stations are mapped to Parliamentary Constituency by postcode.

8. Most weather stations will cover areas in more than one Parliamentary Constituency.

9. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Annex 4: Budgeting Loans by Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget Area

Region of Jobcentre Plus Social Fund budget area Applications Received Awards Gross Expenditure £m
East of England 93,700 76,500 31.7
East Midlands 102,300 83,800 33.5
London 123,500 98,800 41.6
North East 109,200 88,400 33.1
North West 215,000 173,600 66.6
Scotland 160,800 132,500 51.6
South East 121,700 98,100 41.8
South West 77,600 63,100 25.8
Wales 101,600 82,900 32.9
West Midlands 149,500 121,200 47.9
Yorkshire and Humberside 166,800 136,100 52.6

Notes

1. Summing expenditure will give a different total figure to that in Annex 1 as data is obtained from the Policy Budget and Management Information System rather than the Social Fund Account 2018-19.

2. The award figures do not include awards made after review, reconsideration or appeal. However, the gross expenditure figure does include such awards.

3. Applications and awards are rounded to the nearest 100; expenditure is rounded to the nearest £100,000.

4. Figures may not sum to the national totals shown elsewhere due to rounding.

Annex 5: Budgeting Loans – Expenditure by Claimant Group

Claimant group Expenditure (£m) % of Total Awards
Pensioners 21.8 4.7
Unemployed 145.5 31.7
Disabled 98.9 21.5
Lone Parents 158.7 34.6
Others 34.4 7.5
Total 459.2 100

Notes

1. Total expenditure figure differs from Annex 1 as data is obtained from the Policy Budget and Management Information System rather than the Social Fund Account 2018-19.

2. Claimant group definitions are given in Annex 10.

3. Expenditure includes awards made on review, reconsideration or appeal.

4. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000; percentages to the nearest 0.1%.

5. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Annex 6: Budgeting Loans – Initial Awards by Family Composition

Family Type Number of awards (000) Gross Expenditure (£m) Average award (£) % of total number of awards (2017-18) % of total number of awards (2018-19) % of total gross expenditure (2017-18) % of total gross expenditure (2018-19)
Single person, no children 508.1 143.8 283 44.0 44.7 31.0 31.9
Couple, no children 62.5 22.9 367 5.5 5.5 5.0 5.1
Single person or couple with children 565.4 283.8 502 50.4 49.8 64.0 63.0

Notes

1. Summing expenditure will give a different total figure to that in Annex 1 as this data is obtained from Policy Budget and Management Information System rather than the Social Fund Account 2018-19.

2. There were around 2,000 records where the information used to determine family type was not recorded. These figures are not included in the above table, and so these figures will not produce the same totals as in other Annexes. The records not included account for 0.1% of the total number of awards.

3. This table does not include awards or expenditure made on review, reconsideration or appeal.

4. Award volumes are rounded to the nearest 1,000; expenditure to the nearest £100,000; average award values to the nearest £1 and percentages to the nearest 0.1%.

5. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Annex 7: Budgeting Loans – Reasons for initial refusal by Applicant Group

Counts

Type Pensioners Disabled Lone Parents Unemployed Others Total
Outstanding debt 1,200 18,700 11,500 35,700 6,400 73,400
Not in receipt of a qualifying benefit 600 30,300 2,200 13,700 19,100 65,900
Not in receipt of a qualifying benefit for 26 weeks 300 10,400 15,100 25,000 4,500 55,200
Other 200 400 100 400 100 1,100
Total 2,300 59,800 28,900 74,800 30,100 195,900

Percentages

Type Pensioners Disabled Lone Parents Unemployed Others Total
Outstanding debt 52.5 31.4 39.8 47.7 21.1 37.5
Not in receipt of a qualifying benefit 27.6 50.7 7.5 18.3 63.5 33.7
Not in receipt of a qualifying benefit for 26 weeks 12.8 17.3 52.3 33.4 15.1 28.2
Other 7.1 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.6
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Notes

1. Claimant group definitions are given in Annex 10.

2. The qualifying benefits are Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Pension Credit.

3. The number of refusals are rounded to the nearest 100; percentages to the nearest 0.1%.

4. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Annex 8: Summary of Budgeting Loan Review Applications – Data

First Reviews Budgeting Loans
Number of applications for first review 1,700
Number of decisions revised at first review 300
Percentage of applications revised at first review 16.2

Notes

1. The numbers of applications and decisions are rounded to the nearest 100; the percentage to the nearest 0.1%.

2. Percentage revised is based on unrounded figures.

Annex 9: Social Fund Appeals Data (Supplied by HM Courts and Tribunals Service)

Social Fund Appeals Dealt with at the First Tier Tribunal April 2018 to March 2019

Type Number of Receipts Number of Disposals Number Decided without a Hearing Number Heard and Decided at Hearing Number Decided in Appellant’s Favour Percentage Decided in Appellant’s Favour
Social Fund (Funeral Payments) 204 219 31 188 40 21%
Social Fund (Maternity) 95 109 20 89 11 12%
Total 299 328 51 277 51 18%

Notes

Percentage found in favour at hearing is based on the number heard and decided at hearing.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available.

The data is a subset of official statistics.

SSMG devolved to Scotland on 10 December 2018. From this date SSMG is only awarded in England and Wales. Therefore, the figures report on Great Britain up to 10 December 2018, and on England and Wales from that date onwards.

Annex 10: Client Groups

Social Fund payments are wide-ranging from payments to help with intermittent unexpected expenses (mainly to those in receipt of qualifying benefits), to payments aimed at certain groups to help with particular events. The fund does not therefore fall exclusively into any one of the Departmental client groups of Children, Working Age and Older People, although Social Fund payments are either paid to, or benefit, all of these groups. Some statistics in this report are shown by applicant or claimant groups that fall into one or more of the wider client groups.

Applicant or Claimant Group definitions

Pensioners

Includes:

  • applicant or partner at minimum state pension age or over with Pension Credit
  • applicant or partner at minimum state pension age or over in receipt of state retirement pension

Includes also where applicant is under minimum state pension age and partner is:

  • minimum state pension age or over with Income Support (IS) pensioner premium
  • 80 or over with IS higher pensioner premium
  • minimum state pension age to 79, disabled with IS higher pensioner premium

Unemployed

Includes:

  • unemployed or with training allowance.

Disabled

Includes:

  • in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance
  • applicant or partner aged under minimum state pension age with IS disability premium
  • lone parent with IS disability premium
  • family with IS disability premium
  • others with IS disability premium
  • in receipt of other benefit for incapacity or disablement

Lone parent

Includes:

  • person who has no partner and is receiving Income Support because they are responsible for a child.
  1. There is also a statutory requirement to produce a Social Fund White Paper Account. Current arrangements are that this is laid in Parliament separately. 

  2. The figures in this report do not include accounting adjustments.